#What was he thinking while replying

[hkthatgffan]

WHY DID ALEX HIRSCH HAVE TO REPLY TO THIS TWEET OF MINE OUT OF ALL OF THEM, LMFAO?!

[ash-and-starlight]

The world needs more Yue and Zuko friendship, I squeal just thinking abt the parallels. They deserve a life changing field trip together and if u have abt ideas I’m all ears 👀

Hiii anon this ask fermented in my inbox and in my brain for so long,, so take this??? Post canon yue lives/no war au arts?? Anyway aside from the Parallels and their political position & their duty before hoes grindset I think they could learn a lot from each other. With zuko learning the gift of patience & diplomacy from yue & Yue learning that allowing yourself to feel anger and speaking up can actually be Good.

anyway hypothetical life changing trip outcome: zuko takes an intro gender studies class and yue says fuck

(oh and also must not forget the crush on sokka)

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[sysig]

How far did you get? (Patreon)

[spenglerstwinkie]

30 days to train aka 30 days for kars to cyber bully joseph

[northern-passage]

i've shared some of Alex Freed's narrative writing advice before and i recently read another article on his website that i really liked. particularly in branching/choice-based games, a lot of people often bring up the idea of the author "punishing" the player for certain choices. i agree that this is a thing that happens, but i disagree that it's always a bad thing. i think Freed makes a good case for it here.

...acting as the player’s judge (and jury, and executioner) is in some respects the primary job of a game’s developers. Moreover, surely all art emerges from the artist’s own experiences and worldview to convey a particular set of ideas. How does all that square with avoiding being judgmental?

[...]

Let’s first dispel–briefly–the idea that any game can avoid espousing a particular worldview or moral philosophy. Say we’re developing an open world action-adventure game set in a modern-day city. The player is able to engage any non-player character in combat at any time, and now we’re forced to determine what should occur if the player kills a civilian somewhere isolated and out of sight.

Most games either:

allow this heinous act and let the player character depart without further consequence, relying on the player’s own conscience to determine the morality of the situation.

immediately send police officers after the player character, despite the lack of any in-world way for the police to be aware of the crime.

But of course neither of these results is in any way realistic. The problems in the latter example are obvious, but no less substantial than in the former case where one must wonder:

Why don’t the police investigate the murder at a later date and track down the player then?

Why doesn’t the neighborhood change, knowing there’s a vicious murderer around who’s never been caught? Why aren’t there candlelight vigils and impromptu memorials?

Why doesn’t the victim’s son grow up to become Batman?

We construct our game worlds in a way that suits the genre and moral dimensions of the story we want to tell. There’s no right answer here, but the consequences we build into a game are inherently a judgment on the player’s actions. Attempting to simulate “reality” will always fail–we must instead build a caricature of truth that suggests a broader, more realized world. Declaring “in a modern city, murderous predators can escape any and all consequences” is as bold a statement on civilization and humanity as deciding “in the long run, vengeance and justice will always be served up by the victims of crime (metaphorically by means of a bat-costumed hero).”

Knowing that, what’s the world we want to build? What are the themes and moral compass points we use to align our game?

This is a relatively easy task when working with a licensed intellectual property. In Star Trek, we know that creativity, diplomacy, and compassion are privileged above all else, and that greed and prejudice always lead to a bad end. A Star Trek story in which the protagonist freely lies, cheats, and steals without any comeuppance probably stopped being a Star Trek story somewhere along the line. Game of Thrones, on the other hand, takes a more laissez-faire approach to personal morality while emphasizing the large-scale harm done by men and women who strive for power. (No one comes away from watching Game of Thrones believing that the titular “game” is a reasonable way to run a country.)

These core ideals should affect more than your game’s storytelling–they should dovetail with your gameplay loops and systems, as well. A Star Trek farming simulator might be a fun game, but using the franchise’s key ideals to guide narrative and mechanical choices probably won’t be useful. (“Maybe we reward the player for reaching an accord with the corn?”)

Know what principles drive your game world. You’re going to need that knowledge for everything that’s coming.

[...]

Teaching the player the thematic basics of your world shouldn’t be overly difficult–low-stakes choices, examples of your world and character arcs in a microcosm, gentle words of wisdom, obviously bad advice, and so forth can all help guide the player’s expectations. You can introduce theme in a game the way you would in any medium, so we won’t dwell on that here.

You can, of course, spend a great deal of time exploring the nuances of the moral philosophy of your game world across the course of the whole game. You’ll probably want to. So why is it so important to give the player the right idea from the start?

Because you need the player to buy into the kind of story that you’re telling. To some degree, this is true even in traditional, linear narratives: if I walk into a theater expecting the romcom stylings of The Taming of the Shrew and get Romeo and Juliet instead, I’m not going to be delighted by having my expectations subverted; I’m just going to be irritated.

When you give a player a measure of control over the narrative, the player’s expectations for a certain type of story become even stronger. We’ll discuss this more in the next two points, but don’t allow your player to shoot first and ask questions later in the aforementioned Star Trek game while naively expecting the story to applaud her rogue-ish cowboy ways. Interactive narrative is a collaborative process, and the player needs to be able to make an informed decision when she chooses to drive the story in a given direction. This is the pact between player and developer: “You show me how your world works, and I’ll invest myself in it to the best of my understanding.”

[...]

In order to determine the results of any given choice, you (that is, the game you’ve designed) must judge the actor according to the dictates (intended or implicit) of the game world and story. If you’re building a game inspired by 1940s comic book Crime Does Not Pay, then in your game world, crime should probably not pay.

But if you’ve set the player’s expectations correctly and made all paths narratively satisfying, then there can be no bad choices on the part of the player–only bad choices on the part of the player character which the player has decided to explore. The player is no more complicit in the (nonexistent) crimes of the player character than an author is complicit in the crimes of her characters. Therefore, there is no reason to attempt to punish or shame the player for “bad” decisions–the player made those decisions to explore the consequences with you, the designer. (Punishing the player character is just dandy, so long as it’s an engaging experience.)

[...]

It’s okay to explore difficult themes without offering up a “correct” answer. It’s okay to let players try out deeds and consequences and decide for themselves what it all means. But don’t forget that the game is rigged. [...]

Intentionally or not, a game judges and a game teaches. It shows, through a multiplicity of possibilities, what might happen if the player does X or Y, and the player learns the unseen rules that underlie your world. Embracing the didactic elements of your work doesn’t mean slapping the player’s wrist every time she’s wrong–it means building a game where the player can play and learn and experiment within the boundaries of the lesson.

[waywardsalt]

rough rough draft of chapter 1 of the bellum x linebeck fic

Though the storm had passed and the sun finally shown upon the sea again, Linebeck felt gloomy. He leaned against his ship’s rope railings and stared at the horizon. The night before, the pounding of the rain had put him at ease. Now, the bright afternoon had brought back that familiar anxiety. After some thinking, Linebeck pushed himself away from the railing and resolved to begin his morning chores.

                As the only person on his ship, it was up to Linebeck to take care of it- and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He knew his beloved steamship like the back of his hand, and he collected a bucket as he blinked the last of the sleep from his eyes. Firstly, he gathered seawater to dump into the engine’s storage tank. The ship was drifting at the moment, but once Linebeck would turn it on, the heat would build up in the engine and the water would boil and evaporate and build up steam to get the wheels moving.

Linebeck knelt at the lowest edge of the deck and dunked the bucket into the water for the ninth- tenth? - time. He’d have to do some extra engine maintenance before he got moving. He’d been traveling during the entire storm, likely pushing the engine to its limits. But after the water gathering, Linebeck checked the hull for barnacles and scratches, checked the railings for damaged rope, checked his food and water supplies, barely giving himself a moment of rest while he went through the familiar motions.

Since he began sailing, Linebeck’s life had been altogether monotonous and unpredictable. His ship was one he had designed himself, and knew better than anyone else how to take care of and operate it. He had no desire to take on a crew, and knew from experience that they’d only hold him back- trying to teach new people how to work his ship was incredibly tedious and often led to them making mistakes and doing more harm than good. The last bastard he’d temporarily hired and bothered to teach about his ship- Linebeck scowled and shook his head. Not even worth thinking about, now.

The storm had replenished his fresh water supply. It had been bad enough to obscure visibility across the sea, so Linebeck had done some fishing. If he cared for gods, he would have thanked one that he made it through without getting sick.

He didn’t need a crew. Linebeck hadn’t had a long-term crew member for what- seven years now? They just made him feel uneasy and he could never muster up the patience to put up with them.

Or maybe he kept finding the wrong people. That had certainly happened before. He was never particularly good with other people. Linebeck was almost certain that he’d made a good few new enemies just in the last month. His eyes scanned the horizon as he walked back out onto the deck. Linebeck tightened his grip on his mop’s handle. He was totally alone. And yet his skin prickled with unease.

“…No point worrying,” he mumbled to himself. He started mopping the deck, forcing himself to keep his eyes trained on the wood. His last chore of the morning was always the most soothing. He moved slowly and rhythmically, beginning at the prow and slowly making his way back to the cabin. His ship was small, though large enough to be comfortable for him. The deck sloped upwards a few feet from the cabin and plateaued, about a foot higher and better to accommodate the rooms and machinery beneath.

The air was warm and humid; Linebeck brushed his hair out of his face and behind his shoulders. He considered removing his coat, but he was nearly done mopping- no point in wasting the time. The heat was never a big issue for him. He was perfectly suited to the sea, and Linebeck felt more than confidant handling every aspect of this life on his own. No problems whatsoever. No good reason for the anxiety that refused to leave his mind.

Maybe there was a good reason, the same reason why he kept scanning the horizon.

Finished mopping the deck, Linebeck turned to admire it. The storm had cleaned it well enough, but now that the sky was clear he wasn’t just going to cut out part of his morning routine.

With everything done for the morning, Linebeck gathered up his mop and the bucket and moved to put them away. The bucket would be dumped out and left with other containers in the storage room, the mop left in the engine room… and then the engine would need to be started up. The nearest inhabited island was two days away (with good conditions), so while Linebeck had no need to get going right that moment, he felt safer with the engine running.

To get the engine started, Linebeck pulled a lever by the wheel up and waited a moment as he heard the hissing of steam start, and then stop. He knelt down in front of the storage tank. Enough water for the day, that was for sure. He withdrew his matchbox from a pocket in his coat and struck a match, humming idly to himself as he tossed it in the space below the water. It would only be a few minutes before the ship could get going; over the years, Linebeck had gone back and forth on the design of the engine, and managed to make it especially efficient with different materials and methods, and was quite proud of it. While the water heated up, he shut the tank door and sat back, resting a moment.

He’d gotten… some sleep last night. He’d dreamed briefly, and didn’t feel as terrible as he usually did. Some sleep. Better than no sleep at all. Linebeck laid down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. He stared at the winding pipes at the tops of the walls and then shut his eyes. If he was lucky, he could perhaps find a few minutes to nap. Just a few minutes…

The ticking of the machinery around him slowly faded in as the engine properly started up. The sound melted into with the noise of the ocean outside, and Linebeck felt his anxieties ease. The familiarity of his daily routine eased his mind like nothing else.

The next island was north of his position… Linebeck let out a long breath. He’d have to at least position his ship facing north, and get started within the hour. He sat up and stretched. If he got started now, he could reach the island by late tomorrow. The engine was ready to go, and Linebeck smiled to himself as he fiddled with some of the smaller levers and switches, listening to the subtle changes in the ticking and clicking around him.

He paused when he heard up an unfamiliar noise. Linebeck stilled his hands, suddenly feeling cold.

Without thinking, Linebeck kicked the engine into proper operation and after a moment, the wheels on either side of the ship started turning and he quickly steered the ship in the opposite direction of that odd sound. He heard it again, from outside his ship- the unmistakable sound of cannon fire, and Linebeck was not brave enough to stop and check to see if it was aimed at him.

It was usually aimed at him, anyways.

Linebeck steered his ship away and locked the wheel in place; he felt his heart pounding in his chest as more muffled canon fire reached his ears. One sounded closer than the rest, and he managed to tear himself away from the wheel and run up to deck. Running away was nice, but he needed to know where to run away to.

It seemed like he was getting chased more and more. Linebeck figured he ought to start a list of the crews that had it out for him; that was something to do once he was safe. He stumbled out onto the deck and leaned over the rope railing, staring at the southern horizon. Sure enough, he could see a pirate ship in the distance heading his way, and the wind was in their favor.

Linebeck gripped the railings until the rope started to dig into his skin. The hell did he do to them? He recognized the decorated sails as the sails of the ship that’d been pursuing him before the storm. Their captain was one he’d cheated out of several hundred rupees in poker- or was that a different crew? No time to think it over while they got closer and closer. More cannon fire rang out, and Linebeck jumped back as the cannonball splashed into the water dangerously close to his ship.

Sailing in a straight line was a terrible idea. Better to leverage his steamship’s advantages and focus on disrupting their aim. Linebeck wildly looked around. No rocks or islands in sight. His best hope was to run for it and hope that either they’d run out of cannonballs or the wind would die down. He raced back inside.

He was just one man; why did all of these pirates decide that being slighted by him once marked him as the biggest threat to them on the entire Great Sea? Pirates were so petty. He flinched when he heard a muffled splash and felt the ship rock. Linebeck gripped the wheel tightly and started turning the ship west, his sweaty hands almost slipping off. He gritted his teeth as the cannon fire sounded closer and the ship rocked again.

The last time he’d been pursued like this, a cannonball had burnt his hull and cost him several days of sleep. Linebeck turned the ship far enough around to spy the pursuing pirates again; the moment he heard the cannon fire again, he spun the wheel to sail in the opposite direction. Turning was slow, but his ship never stopped moving. He’d had nightmares about one of the wheels being damage, and Linebeck felt weak in the knees just thinking about it.

As the pirate ship slipped out of view, the waters around his ship were more violently disrupted, and Linebeck yelped as his ship was more violently rocked by the waves. There was no cannon fire, no sound of a cannonball hitting the waves- and the water was clearly churning too violently for it to have been a cannonball. He clung to the steering wheel for dear life, his knees nearly buckling underneath him, and the cacophonous sound of an especially large wave made him wince. The ship rocked again, but still no cannon fire. Instead, Linebeck picked up a new muffled noise.

…Splintering wood?

The wood of his own ship was fine, there was no motion asides from the violent waves rocking his ship, but the distant splintering continued, and with it, faraway screams. For the second time in barely five minutes, Linebeck’s curiosity prevailed over his fear. On shaky legs he stumbled up onto his deck- slick with water that had poured onboard, and nearly fell over the railings when he reached them.

The pursuing pirate ship was being torn apart by something. Something had pulled the main mast down and split it in half, tearing through the sails and ripping the vessel in half. Linebeck squinted, hardly seeing anything that could be causing it, then caught a glimpse of what looked like a thick black rope curled around the prow, tearing it clean off and dragging it into the sea. The way those ‘ropes’ moved; Linebeck slowly slid down into a crouch as he realized that a sea monster was what was attacking that ship.

One pirate jumped from where the prow had been, likely trying to escape and swim away, but a black tentacle shot out of the water and grabbed them midair and yanked them below the water. Linebeck felt frozen to the spot, more than grateful that he wasn’t the creature’s target, but he feared that if he took advantage of the chaos and sailed away, he would be attacked next.

The pursuing ship began to sink, and the sharp cracking of wood was piercing as it reached Linebeck’s ears. The hull was torn in two, more tentacles appearing to crush them into unsalvageable wreckages. The fear that shot through Linebeck urged him to straighten back up. He started to hurry back into the engine room, but stopped in his tracks as the tentacles withdrew back into the water.

The pirate ship’s remains slowly sank, survivors clinging to any floating pieces. Linebeck stared at the water around his ship. That… thing had stopped. That sea monster that he and those pirates had the misfortune to disturb.

That sea monster- Linebeck had researched every possible hostile creature that had been seen on the Great Sea, and that certainly had to have been one of them. He grabbed onto his railing again, feeling too sick to move his gaze from the sinking ship down to the waters just below him. He stood at the end of the railing, steady on the sloping deck despite the way his limbs shook and his heart hammered in his chest.

There was a sea monster in these waters. It had just wiped out an entire pirate crew in hardly a minute. From what Linebeck could recall, that pirate crew was rather prepared and experienced, and their ship certainly wasn’t some glorified piece of driftwood. This wasn’t just an overgrown gyorg or some other typical sea monster- he was at the mercy of the kind of sea monster that had stories passed around. The kinds that endured for decades or even centuries and were either worshipped or feared. He’d never seen a regular sea monster that had those kinds of tentacles and was that quick and deadly.

One of the stranded pirates was suddenly and violently pulled under water. Linebeck lowered himself back down to a crouch, staring at the now-empty patch of water. After a few moments, a faint red hue bloomed from deep under the surface.

I’m going to die.

The thought seemed to echo in Linebeck’s head. It wasn’t a thought he was unfamiliar with, but it was much, much more frantic now than ever. He was going to drown or be eaten. Even if he got out unscathed, his ship likely wouldn’t, and that sounded just as bad as if he got injured. Linebeck shakily stared down at the water mere feet from him. Every tiny wave and ripple in the water heightened his anxiety, and his mind raced. Another pirate was pulled under the water, eaten, and the waters were still for a moment. Then, there was a subtle ripple further away from the wreckage and closer to Linebeck’s ship.

How do I get out of this?

Linebeck’s terror forced him to his feet, and he raced into his ship’s cabin. That monster was more than capable of catching up with that pirate ship, and Linebeck stumbled on his way down the stairs as his ship rocked slightly.

This monster was capable of killing and catching him with ease, and it tore apart that pirate ship with ease, and it was eating the survivors, and Linebeck was up next if he didn’t think fast. His feet brought him into his ship’s cramped kitchen, and he stood still in the doorway for a moment. His fear and quick-thinking seemed to crash into each other, and his mind went blank as he stared around. Linebeck switched his attention from his utensils to the fish he’d recently caught and had yet to clean to the cupboards. Why the hell had he run here?

The sea monster killed all of the pirates. It was probably chasing after him now. It tore apart the ship, and… ate the pirates. Ate the pirates. Linebeck stared at his recently-caught fish. There were a pair of smaller amberjacks he’d picked up during the storm, a seabass he had a few different plans for, and then a large loovar he’d been planning to sell. He suddenly felt itchy looking at that loovar. He was going to sell it. It was a large, pristine loovar, with sleek, undamaged scales and was over five feet long and took up the entire counter that fit in the narrow kitchen. It was valuable and would net him a good sum of rupees at the next island he docked at.

Linebeck’s ship rocked again, violently enough to knock him off balance. The terror finally mixed with his quick thinking and he grabbed and yanked the loovar off the counter, stumbling a moment under its weight. He slung it over his shoulder and hauled it up the stairs, his shoulder aching before he was even in the engine room. Goddesses, his coat was going to reek if he made it out of this alive.

He paused to grab his mop and tuck it into the crook of his elbow and stumbled a bit, stubbornly keeping the fish from touching the floor. The ship rocked under his feet again, and Linebeck shuddered and hurried out onto the deck. The water around his ship’s hull ripped every few moments, and Linebeck didn’t hesitate in letting the loovar drop onto the wood. He kicked it off the deck, and it fell unceremoniously into the water and floated barely a few inches from the hull- too close.

With the mop he prodded at it and sent it floating slowly away from his ship. And so, Linebeck huddled at the edge of his deck, leaning against his mop for support. For just a moment, the waters were still. The loovar bobbed on the water’s surface and the sunlight glinted off its scales. Linebeck exhaled slowly. For all he knew, the monster could have already left. He could probably grab the loovar if he was careful.

Linebeck started to reach back out with the mop, but drew it back as the water around the loovar suddenly started to ripple. The rippling grew more furious, and the water began to bubble and small waves started rushing out from around the fish- a dark shape was just barely visible deep in the water. The shape rushed to the surface, and Linebeck only got the quickest glimpse before falling backwards onto the deck as the largest waves yet set his ship violently rocking.

It was huge, easily half the size of his ship, and a stunning yellow. For the split second he saw it, Linebeck couldn’t discern any detail, but he didn’t miss the mouth full of sharp teeth that engulfed the loovar. Linebeck had fallen onto his back and didn’t dare move as the sea calmed down, the blurry image of the beast burnt into his mind. He stared up at the sky and realized that the fear in his chest had eased. Had he appeased the creature? The rocking of his ship slowly stopped, and he felt he was in no hurry to get up.

There was a slight splashing, and Linebeck jolted upright. He stared off the edge of the deck, at where the loovar had been floating. It stared back at him. The sunlight glinted off its yellow body, greenish in some spots, and golden in others. Under the water, the rest of it was just a murky shadow. In its mouth, encircled by those teeth, was an eye that stared back at him, the tiny pupil within a burning yellow and orange, surrounded by deep black. A monstrous eye, and one that Linebeck could’ve sworn he’d seen somewhere. Something about the thing’s unblinking gaze made a sense of visceral horror return to Linebeck, and before he could think it through, he scrambled to his feet.

The creature didn’t move in the water, but its eye followed his movements. Despite the hammering of his heart, Linebeck couldn’t tear his gaze away from that eye. His limbs felt locked in place, and his breathing came in in ragged gasps and he realized just how bad his situation had gotten. There was no way that loovar was enough to save him. He’d seen the way the creature had torn apart that pirate ship. He’d seen the way it had grabbed and killed those pirates. There was nothing keeping it from killing him next.

Then, without any sound but the sounds of the water, the creature sank down into the ocean and out of sight.

Linebeck immediately hurried back into his cabin, just barely remembering to snatch up his mop.

He wasted no time in getting his ship up and running again, and set a course for the island before even thinking of relaxing. Linebeck anxiously surveyed the sea as he steered the ship away, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary.

…Maybe the loovar had satisfied that… thing. Linebeck tried not to think much about it. But his nerves were still shot by the encounter, and he stiffly steered until the sun began to set.

He didn’t anchor the ship until stars glittered in the sky. Linebeck moved gingerly around his ship, half expecting that monster to return. But the evening was quiet, and Linebeck eventually felt relaxed enough after doing his rounds. He collected every book he had that mentioned sea monsters and went out on deck to read and rest.

Linebeck rested against the prow. He set the books in his lap and started flipping through each one, quickly skipping through what turned out to be a catalogue of common seafaring enemies, and finding a short collection of short stories based on powerful creatures around the world. As the sun dipped further below the horizon, Linebeck finally reached a much more informative book- one that had been gathering dust at the edge of the shelf- and flipped through more slowly, inspecting each illustration. Dragons, sentient plants, fish creatures, and Linebeck slowed down upon reaching the chapter reserved for deities. It didn’t take long for him to turn a page and find a familiar illustration.

It was little more than a collection of sketches, but that eye was unmistakable. Linebeck leaned over the book with a small spark of triumph in his heart. He was right- it was one he’d heard of before, a creature named ‘Bellum’. Apparently a powerful, demonic sea monster.

Linebeck felt a faint shiver down his spine and he sat up and stared off across the sea. He shut the book and gathered up the rest. Back in the cabin, he locked the door out, and hesitated with his hand on the knob. That nearby island was his destination, a small island with a small town that he’d been for. He needed supplies, needed to restock on food and parts and whatever else eluded him at the moment.

He double-checked the lock and silently headed down into the storage room. Linebeck left the volume with the information on Bellum on the table, and put the rest back on the bookshelf behind the thin bar that kept them from falling out.

Bellum.

Linebeck turned and stared at the book on the table. In the dim light of the few lit lanterns in the room, the book seemed almost ominous with its dark cover and elaborate spine. Where had he picked this one up? Was it one from home, or something he’d bought on a whim a while ago? Either way, it was worth reading through and taking notes on- even if the information he wanted seemed to only take up two pages.

Linebeck idly rubbed his hands together. The only indication of his lingering anxiety was the thin layer of sweat on his palms. Most sea monsters were known through shared stories and rumored sightings. Once he got all he could from the book, he could start asking around at islands. With any luck, though, he wouldn’t have to see that thing again.

[liquidstar]

oc req i got from a friend on cohost for these two hanging out! which eventually turned into me thinking "what if this is just saiph walking up to ramus unprompted on Guild Beach Day, but ramus fully forgot who he was since they last met" and that concept was funny enough to me that thats what the drawing became

but still, here's an edited (technically original) version under the cut bc i think eventually they start to talk for real anyway lol

[forgottenamira]

Tell Me Now | Amira & Percy

"You there!" called out the Queen from across the courtyard. She was coming fast, her velvet black cape fanning out around her as she moved.

Roderick's two queens could not have been more different. While Marian generally presented herself all in pretty warmth, Amira was cold and severe. As Marian decked herself out in color, Amira wore almost entirely black. Where Marian's locks ran like spun gold, Amira's were dark as ebony. And though their eyes were, at least, of the same hue, Marian's were limpid as the sky above. But Amira were cold and hard as chips of ice.

Raising a hand, Amira pointed, her gaze boring into Percy as he moved.

"You stood overlong saddling His Imperial Highness's horse," she said, entering the stable. She, too, had been watching, and she watched, now, eyes narrowed, as the groom stood before her. "Tell me, what does a native Astairan make of Prince Arthur's many conversations with the Lady Aria? Does it warm your heart?" She laughed, a harsh sound. "Something in your expression does not make me think so. I'm sure you do not require reminding that it is not for you to judge the deeds of one like His Highness. And His Imperial Majesty our great Emperor does not pay you to dawdle."

She smiled, then, but the look did not reach her eyes, save for a frosty, knowing expression that played upon her stony features, her grin staying merely upon the deep red of her lips. "You were listening." Amira knew this for a fact. She had been watching. "Whatever were they saying to so fascinate a farrier?"

[itissadbutitsmy-artblog]

THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING not aloud BUT

if i had a nickel for every time there was a cool-toned antagonistic teenaged cyclops character with terrible hair in a kids show who had just the most awful things happen to them, ended up paralyzed and stuck lying there on the ground for a while at some point, and just wanted to save everyone but couldn’t save anyone, i’d have two nickels. which isnt a lot

but it’s weird that it happened twice

[dye-it-rouge-et-noir]

"For particularly important things, it's always more reassuring to write them down like this." - Zhang Beihai

[ID in alt text]

[sysig]

You’re gonna die if you keep that up (Patreon)

[fudge24-7]

Ok while I do agree what caine did is messed up, I don't see anyone coming to his defense with this point, and I feel like it should be considered more

Tadc spoilers ahead for episode 2 if you don't have the tags filtered:

Caine didn't have any way to know gumigoo was centient, I know it was easy to forget that when we as the audience could clearly see it, I did too for a moment but, when you think about it, he didn't see gumigoo become self aware like we did. Like he's said he only has eyes on the circus, and while I don't 100% trust every word he says, the fact he didn't just close the portal the moment gumigoo approached, or hell intervene the moment pomni mentioned bringing him back, Instead just seeming surprised when he noticed gumigoo there, it shows to me that he really doesn't see what happens there, so he most likely didn't know. from his perspective pomni just got way too attached to a character he created, he had no way to know why she did or that he was more then what he made him now

[codacheetah]

I keep thinking of how I want to taxonomize Siffrin and Loop bc it feels significant to me that Loop and Siffrin both have inherently diverged from the same Traveler Mold they came from. But because I am like a 7 year old I keep sagely nodding to myself going "ah yes... just like mega mewtwo"

[fleetsonourgecentral]

Um. okay. Yeah, I could go on. Right back at ya, don’t apologize for your long answer either. It’s so nice when someone goes into detail with this kind of stuff.  Thanks for also sharing a few facts of the fleetway emeralds btw. Kinda what started this whole second train of thought.

Archie’s chaos energy isn’t screwed up like the Fleetway universe. True. But still very much insane in terms of power and ability. It’s given to the rise of entities like Perfect Chaos, fused Tikal + Chaos, Enerjak, Chaos Knuckles, and Turbo Tails. And ofc Super forms. Could grant wishes and immortality. Capability to warp time and space to the point of rewriting reality entirely. Which I assume the Super Genesis Wave never happens in your canon thank goodness otherwise RIP to everyone.

…And Scourge took power from the damn Master Emerald. 

So much possibilities for him based on the bonkers lore that is Archie and the potential was squandered. Understandable since he’s not a hero and HAS to lose. That being said, it can be argued in-universe reasons that Scourge is just very ignorant to what he can do. For all his power and speed, he’s simply not pushed to his limits the same way his Prime counterpart was. His skills are not honed as they should be. It’s canon that he doesn’t consider the capabilities/consequences of using power sources or what he ‘can do’ until Sonic spells these things out for him. Your Sonic had to come up with the idea of vibrating through handcuffs in which Scourge latched on the knowledge immediately from there.  Not always the critical thinker but fast learner indeed.

And ah yes, Scourge becoming good this way is terrifying. Characters that forcibly go under personality changes like this has been a long running concept in fictional media and it always hits hard on how horrible it is to have your mind manipulated to the point where you’re no longer you. I guess it’s a questionable last resort for the truly despicable, but for someone like Scourge..…why condemn him to such a fate ? 

Which leads me to another way on what a good Super Scourge would be like. 

As much Super Scourge is nice, starting off, he has a rather simplistic view on the concept of doing good. He’s no killer but lacks the understanding that people are pretty complicated. His first course of action would be to boot Sonic off the team. If Sonic is still stuck with his own Super form then he would forcefully separate Sonic’s Super form from him claiming he’s saving Sonic. Only to be surprised by Sonic still being an ass by default. 

He could be hostile to even pacifistic Super Sonic, simply because chaos energy conflict bullshit, attempt to absorb him.  Overall, it takes time to get a grasp on how not everything is painted black and white. With the added risk of being manipulated too, develop a more warped sense of good, the FF have to be really really vigilant with him on this.

Super Sonic gets more destructive the more chaos energy he absorbs. Super Scourge absorbing more energy, gives him the opportunity to do more good. Absolutely radiating. Then there’s the thought of going off to save other universes. He would leave the fleetway universe continuously absorbing the plentiful chaos energy the multiverse has to offer, not realizing his mission will be an endless one. Cue the bitter tears from Sonic, because that’s gonna be a long daaaayyyy to retrieve him. And probably Sonic spitting some vile words after, since he lacks the ability to cope with loss too well. He’s got the bloody receipts with Porker fully leaving the team & Johnny dying.

Scourge would be torn internally by this too because although it was through involuntary circumstances, he was gonna ‘leave for the greater good’ over Sonic in an eerily similar way his father had chose his peace making work over him.

Assuming the chaos energy works the same as it does to Sonic but with a collision of multi-universe chaos energy mix here, then an Evil Super Scourge wouldn’t be like Sonic’s. He would be truly unpredictable. The embodiment of doing whatever he wants when he wants it. A fickle little shit. Moods like a light switch. No one knows if he means what he says. The scariest thing when dealing with this Super Scourge is that he actually knows what kind of powers he has. Not a universe ender though, can’t ‘enjoy’ life and its chaos if you’re wiping everything off of existence.

Sharing Scourge’s arrogance to the extreme, Super doesn’t look for chaos energy to sustain himself because he always thinks he has enough, so he often burns himself out pretty fast. Other times transforming back would either out of sheer boredom, getting tricked, Scourge shakily taking back control, or seeing Sonic who makes him feel extremely miserable to where he just crumbles.

It could be he’s aware he comes from a Sonic. Triggering a sense of worthlessness for him. Or he has a soft spot for him. Idk. Unpack that suitcase of dynamics with him/FF and psychological issues when you can.

He could be envious of Super Sonic for at least he has consistent things to latch onto even if they’re simple and boring to him. (destroy everything/ live life at the Groovy Train). Because he’d partially share Scourge’s apathy towards things. Think of Anti Sonic when he got apathetic after overthrowing Anti King Max and got everything he wanted in the moment. That’s where I’m getting that aspect from.

As for his opinion on Scourge, bygones are always gonna be bygones since in the end, it was thanks to him he could exist to do what he wants. I also rather see your own interpretation on how he would treat Scourge. Geez imagine the new emotional issues and setbacks. If it’s by will? haha, yeah noo, let’s put a lid on this guy. almost forever. Fuck you Sonic why does your dimension have to be such a shitty plac—

If there’s no risk of transforming into either of these personas, then I like to think Scourge could maybe like re-stabilize the energy in Sonic’s universe one day. Bend the rules a bit with them. He’d be so ecstatic they both transform at will with no consequences (Screaming at the top of his lungs “TAKE THAT PRIME I JUST FIXED A UNIVERSE IN A WAY YOU NEVER COULD AND WE GOT COOL SUPER FORMS OUT OF IT”)  Or be very well be dragged in and consumed by it in a way no one is gonna expect.

sigh, I really wish we knew more about anarchy energy because Scourge is likely made of it originally, and it’s a miracle that the energy he absorbed wasn’t incompatible. The smallest way these energies probably did overlap canonically is through cosmetic change so far, if the whole green to purple invert palette is anything to take away from.

Basically the point is it’s like what Zonic says about Scourge,

“Besides, Scourge’s mutation has made him something of a wild card in the cosmic scheme of things.”

So I very much like that you aren’t planning to stick to one set of rules to how the super forms would work because you’re right. YOU’RE SO RIGHT. There’s no official answers on how all of this would even work! This is the sheer beauty of writing whatever the fuck you want. It’ll be thrilling to see what kind of stories you’d make up with that in mind.

Let Scourge be the cosmic wildcard.

Vibrating at the speed of light at all of this I love it all

I love the idea that Scourge doesn't actually know all the things he's capable of because he doesn't push himself the same way Sonic does, so you're right he very well could have abilities that even he doesn't know about. Would he discover them while in a super form? Or would his super form share his strategy of "brute force the way through everything" and continue to never discover any neat hidden powers? Who knows... good for Sonic if Scourge's super form is evil, though. Super Sonic is already a pain with everything he can do, so while a Super Scourge would also be a pain, it'd be easier if he was oblivious to some of the devastating things he can do

HELP FHJDSHJFDSA SCOURGE DECIDING TO FUCKING BOOT SONIC OFF THE TEAM IS SO FUCKING FUNNY..... SONIC WOULD BE PISSEDDDDD. And the idea of Scourge just fuckin. Sticking his hand in Sonic's chest and yeeting Super out is sending me. Afhdshjafd poor Super though.... already has Sonic questioning him, and now Scourge? He cannot catch a break

Oh my god Scourge flying off to "save the multiverse".... god Sonic would not take that well. You're right, he hates it when people leave him, even when they have good reason to (ie Porker) so for Scourge to leave him? He'd hate it. He has his own dimension to protect, he doesn't have time to care about what's going on in other universes, especially since those other dimensions presumably have their own Sonic to take care of things. I imagine he'd try to hide how hurtful he finds it, though... at least until they finally catch up to Scourge and Scourge puts up a fight and argues about how he doesn't want to go back. And the freedom fighters are desperately trying to tread carefully, because Scourge could bolt at any time and it's such a pain to pin him down, but Sonic would not be as tactful as the rest of their friends. You make a really interesting comparison between Scourge leaving "for the greater good" and the way his father chose peace over him, although I don't know if he'd be in a state to come to that conclusion himself in his super form. As his regular self, definitely, but idk about in a super form. I could absolutely see Sonic spitting that comparison at him, however; he's not above low blows, and Super Scourge isn't the Scourge he knows and loves, so if he's already lashing out, I could absolutely see him making some kind of vile comment about it. Something something "you're becoming just like your daddy, I see" or something along those lines

I love the idea of Super Scourge's arrogance meaning he burns out quickly, because I can absolutely see that happening. I think it would be difficult to trick him into powering down, because as you said, he's a fast learner, and Prime Sonic has already tricked him into powering down once, so he'd notice if the freedom fighters tried that, but I do think it would be possible. I think Sonic would struggle a little with tricking him, not because he's not smart or capable of tricking people, but because he's actually at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the freedom fighters. He's never had to calm someone down from a transformation, after all; the only times he has (to my memory) fought a super form was after he and Super were separated, where Super powering down wasn't an option. The solutions were to trick and trap him, or try and find some way to fight him, so Sonic's knee-jerk reaction is to fight. The rest of the freedom fighters, though? They have experience in this kind of stuff. They've had practice in bringing Sonic down from his super form; the time when Tails managed it by using Sonic's ego against him to trick him into solving the problem for them comes to mind. So they'd already have a few tricks up their sleeves - notably tricks Scourge probably hasn't seen, and thus he'd be more likely to fall for them. I also think his super form would have trouble thinking ahead, so while he'd recognise if someone tried an identical plan to Prime Sonic's, he'd most likely fall for other tricks that have a similar effect but are executed differently. So the freedom fighters would actually be pretty good at handling this situation

I think one of the hardest things for Sonic is that feelings don't translate when someone is under the influence of chaos energy. Like, Sonic loves his friends even if he's shit at showing it, but he was more than willing to kill them when he was super. So Scourge's feelings for him likely wouldn't be enough to make him change back, especially if he's evil and possibly even if he's good. I think it would frustrate him knowing he can't get through to Scourge by appealing to his feelings, because those feelings don't matter when he's in his super form

I think Sonic would think he can cope with it better than he can because his other knee-jerk reaction is to see Super Scourge as a completely separate person to Scourge, which is simultaneously easy for him and way more difficult than expected. Super Sonic is (now) a separate person, after all, so it stands to reason he'd see Super Scourge the same way. But I don't think he'd be prepared for how little that separation helps him. I think he almost definitely makes some kind of comment about how Super Scourge "isn't really Scourge" which will inevitably piss Scourge off. Having his identity as Scourge dismissed would hurt even in regular form, so in a super form, that would be multiplied. Especially since, well, Super Scourge is Scourge. Just not the one they all know and love. Super Sonic was still Sonic in the beginning, after all, and only really became his own person after the split. But Sonic has gotten comfortable with the idea of super forms being separate people entirely, so of course that's how he'll treat Super Scourge. Needless to say, I don't think that will go down well, no matter if Scourge is good or evil in his super form

I LOVE the idea of Scourge accidentally being the antidote who can stabilise chaos energy. Normally the chaos emeralds need specific conditions to be stabilised, but imagine if Scourge could act as a replacement for those conditions... I think Sonic would both be thrilled at having a super form he can actually control, and be wary about it. I think he knows he could do a lot of good if he could just control his super form, but I think even if he got a super form he could control, transforming or seeing his fur start to turn yellow would lowkey still make him panic and instinctively try to shut it down. I think it would take him a long time to get over that.

I had a vague thought about Sonic using a dark form like we see in Sonic X in order to get around this and take advantage of all the negative emotions he has around turning super, but that is like, ultimate self indulgent daydreaming lol so probably nothing I will ever elaborate further on

Also, even if Scourge could stabilise chaos energy, chances are Porker would want to run experiments on that, and I can't imagine Scourge would be too happy about playing guinea pig (this would not stop him from bragging to Prime about how he fixed an entire dimension's chaos energy)

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT ZONIC CALLING SCOURGE A COSMIC WILD CARD honestly that makes this whole scenario even more interesting and demonstrates just how much he could shake up the rules just by going super. Like we really took someone who is already making even the zone cops go "yeah idfk what's going on with this one man" and dumped him in the universe with more volatile chaos energy than normal. What a combination fdhsafhjdsa. Also this makes me wonder how much of a headache poor Zonic would have if Scourge ever did go super with the fleetway emeralds. Especially if he was good and went zooming off trying to "save" the multiverse, because you can guarantee that behaviour would catch the attention of the zone cops. Creating yet another obstacle for Sonic and the rest of the freedom fighters. Honestly the more I talk about this the more I think about things that Sonic would add to his list of "reasons why Scourge should never go super" lmao

[aquanutart]

After saving the land before them Zelda and link were tied and they need to sleep. So they went on there Horse to the Village to Link’s house. As Zelda was so happy she was also glad to know that all that had happened was all in the past.

Zelda was so happy to not be in the Castle trying to stay awake. Everything was fine now she was with Link. When they got about 4 hours away Zelda saw that there were some people out in the distance. She had not seen people in forever she said to link to set up camp for the night and she would go talk to the people and she would come back with some food so they could cook.

Link looked at the people in concern I will be fine just go set up camp he nodded his head. Zelda loved to see the blue sky and the birds and the sway of the grass she never wanted to it to end. When she started talking to the people they were a little of but she just thought that they were excited to see her they just offered bananas to her. All at once she remembered that Link told her about a Yiga clans they would look like a normal person but they were not.

she screamed “Link” he came running at full speed and right on time the Yiga clan members were not the week kind but the much harder to kill ones. One did have a bow though Link killed the one with a sword first but the one with a bow was so fast Link told Zelda to run back to camp she didn’t want to leave him alone but she went behind a big rocks and hid.

Zelda Hurd nothing but a sweet sound of a little bird chirping in the distance. Then she heard a scream it sounded like a link she ran all the way to him the Yiga was not dead but it retreated because it has fulfill its duties. It had shot Link right in the chest with his bow 4 times he was wheezing and gasping for air. Link grabbed two of the arrows and pulled them out. Zelda squinted with fear she knew that it needed to be tended to right away. But all she had was bananas and a small cloth she was watching him grab the other two arrows and he was pulling them out. He Was in a great amount of pain. She tried to talk to him for the very first time she said “ we need to get you to a stable first but we then will rush to Hatnao village”. Link tried to speak but the pain took over.

“shh you need to save your strength right now” Zelda said. She could tell that he Was in A lot of pain. Blood started to turn his clothes red and Zelda new that she will need to hurry or he wouldn’t make it! she said to him can you get on the horse he said. I-can try-to get on…. She was getting so worried that he wouldn’t be able to make it. She helped him get on the horse and they started to ride.

after about an hour or so it started to get worse they were about 20 minutes away from the staple. And he fell off his horse Zelda jumped off and rushed to the side. He was Groaning with pain as much more blood came out. At this time he was as white as the cloud He was barely breathing and struggling when he was. They finally got to a stable she found some cloth and wiped off the wound with some water. He was wincing with pain she didn’t want it to be painful but she wanted to be clean.

she turned one of the horses in so they could ride together in and he can rest. Zelda did not notice how much blood he had Lost buddy was struggling because of the blood loss they were almost to the village about only 30 minutes away when it started to get worse blood was rushing out now and Zelda was worried. The time before his eyes were open but his eyes started the clothes slowly.

Zelda knew it had to be because of blood loss or was that the reason she turned around and stop the horse she put her hand to Link’s for head he had a very high fever. She knew that the fever was going to cause some pain and some discomfort but she knew she had to get to the village that was all of her concern. when she made it to the village people came running out of their houses link was not awake anymore so They took him to his house and laid him down on the bed. Zelda fell asleep on the bedside Well they tend to his wounds.

She was still very worried for him but than her friend pura came in she said check it her normal thing she looked at link and said what happened Zelda explain to the story as pura made some food on the stove for when he woke up and fore them of course. They talked for hours then Link woke up wai-r am I… don’t worry you’re in your house he fell back asleep after about 20 minutes he was obviously exhausted from blood loss and a fever. After he was all better and able to walk again I Zelda and him continue their adventures as one! The end. Thank you so much for your kindness and your help for your love and kindness always gives me energy.❤️❤️❤️ I just want to ask if you can draw like a little seen out of this you are such an inspiration to me 😊

Hello! Thank you for all your kind words!! I'm really happy if I can give you energy; thank you for all your kindness and positivity as well! I always see you tagging people just to say nice things to them; it's really sweet and always makes me smile! 😊😊💖

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I really enjoyed reading it!! I don't take requests, but I did imagine this based on your story! (I'm sorry if it's not exactly what you had in mind!)